Abstract
BACKGROUND: Migratory waterfowl have often been implicated in the movement of troublesome agronomic and wetland weed species. However, minimal research has been conducted to investigate the dispersal of agronomically important weed species by waterfowl. The two objectives for this project were to determine what weed species are being consumed by ducks and snow geese, and to determine the recovery rate and viability of 13 agronomic weed species after passage through a duck's digestive system. RESULTS: Seed recovered from digestive tracts of 526 ducks and geese harvested during a 2-year field study had 35 020 plants emerge. A greater variety of plant species emerged from ducks each year (47 and 31 species) compared to geese (11 and 3 species). Viable seed from 11 of 13 weed species fed to ducks in a controlled feeding study were recovered. Viability rate and gut retention times indicated potential dispersal up to 2900 km from the source depending on seed characteristics and variability in waterfowl dispersal distances. CONCLUSIONS: Study results confirm that waterfowl are consuming seeds from a variety of agronomically important weed species, including Palmer amaranth, which can remain viable after passage through digestive tracts and have potential to be dispersed over long distances by waterfowl. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.
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Claims 4
Claim · model-written summary
Seeds recovered from 526 waterfowl yielded 35 020 emerging plants.
- Taxon
- plantsViridiplantaee0
- Outcome
- plants emergee0
- Value
- 35 020e0
Anas.jpg?width=60){kind=small}
AnserOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
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Verbatim
e0“Seed recovered from digestive tracts of 526 ducks and geese harvested during a 2-year field study had 35 020 plants emerge.”
Claim · model-written summary
More plant species emerged from ducks than geese in each study year.
- Taxon
- plant speciese0
- Outcome
- variety of plant species emergede0
- Direction
- greatere0
- Value
- 47 and 31 speciese0
- Qualifier
- 11 and 3 speciese0
- Comparator
- geesee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“A greater variety of plant species emerged from ducks each year (47 and 31 species) compared to geese (11 and 3 species).”
Claim · model-written summary
Viable seed was recovered for 11 of 13 weed species fed to ducks.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Viable seed from 11 of 13 weed species fed to ducks in a controlled feeding study were recovered.”
Claim · model-written summary
Seed viability and gut retention indicated dispersal potential up to 2900 km.
- Taxon
- seede0
- Outcome
- potential dispersale0
- Value
- up to 2900 kme0
- Qualifier
- depending on seed characteristics and variability in waterfowl dispersal distancese0
Not reportedDirection
Verbatim
e0“Viability rate and gut retention times indicated potential dispersal up to 2900 km from the source depending on seed characteristics and variability in waterfowl dispersal distances.”